From Jackal, With Love
by Amethyst Hunter
Summary: Drabble. Ginji is less than thrilled by Akabane's attempt at romantic gift-giving. Also contains an extra drabble, Color Me Dead, in which Ginji reciprocates when it's Akabane's birthday!


Title: From Jackal, With Love

Author: Amethyst Hunter

Fandom/pairing: Get Backers, Akabane/Ginji

Rating: PG-13 (implied violence)

Warnings/Spoilers: See above.

Word count: 1020

Notes: Based on a fic prompt for the springkink LJ community. Prompt: "unusual gifts and/or courtship - surprise!"

Disclaimer: I don't own GB.

Summary: Ginji is less than pleased with Akabane's romantic endeavors.

--

It started, as all things momentous do, with a smile. From there it progressed to winks, and nods, little displays of interest shared as the spark kindled into a flame, and that into a brushfire. Ginji had always believed that the responsibility for preventing forest fires began with oneself, but damned if he couldn't figure out a way to douse this particular blaze.

Himiko's poison perfume had a way of lingering long after the packages had quit seeping blood.

Ban said it must be a mistake the first two or three times it had happened. But what did he know? He hadn't been the one to stumble, half-awake, out of the car and land face-first over those sticky displays of ardor. As the weeks – and the souvenirs – began piling up, Ginji became convinced of the dreadful but inescapable truth:

His days were numbered.

"Ban-chan, we need to talk."

Ban didn't bother looking up from the sandwich he was busily eviscerating. "Found another one, eh?"

Ginji nodded.

"Where?"

"Trunk."

"Could've been worse. He could've left it in your bed, like in that mob movie."

"He did that last week."

"Oh." Ban paused to swizzle some more coffee. "Well, don't look at me. He's your secret psycho admirer, not mine."

"Ban-chan." Ginji scowled. "This has got to stop. It's bad for business!"

"Since when did you give a flying fig about money?"

"Not that business. I mean when I want to go for an ice cream or need to use the bathroom. I can't do anything without checking for dead people first!"

Ban snorted. "Dead people don't bite, Ginji. It's the live ones you gotta watch out for."

"Ban-chan!"

"Just ignore him and he'll get bored and go away after a while," Ban advised.

Ginji paled. "I can't do that! Bad things happen when Akabane-san gets bored...!"

"Bad things are happening now, according to you, so what's the difference?"

"The difference is that I don't want the next dead body that Akabane-san brings me to be my own!" Ginji hissed.

Ban shrugged and polished off the last of his sandwich. "So kick his ass. It's not like you've never done that before."

Ginji slumped in a miserable heap atop the counter. "That's what got me into this mess in the first place!"

"Then I'd say you're screwed, aren't you?" Ban stood up to demand a fresh piece of pie from Paul.

"Ban-chan! You're so mean," Ginji whined. A thought clicked in his mind, and he leveled a baleful glare at his partner. "You know, I _could_ sic Akabane-san on you for a change..."

"Ah-ah-ahh. We talked about that, remember?" It was Ban's turn to glare. "Only one nutjob stalker allowed per retrieval agent. I've got Fudou, and you've got Akabane. Deal with it."

"Ban-chaaaaaaan." A disgruntled Ginji slouched in his seat, the ends of his hair bristling with static annoyance.

Shido noticed. "Now what's the snake bastard done?"

"Ban-chan says I'm stuck with Akabane-san. But he keeps bringing me dead bodies after every transport trip he makes! I can't sleep anymore. Every time I try to count sheep, I see all these guys with Js in their backs jumping over the fence!"

"Ahh, I see." Shido nodded. "The 'ol kitten-hunting method. Never fails."

"Huh?"

Shido patiently assumed instruction. "Ginji, it's all about natural instinct. When a mother cat is caring for her kittens, she teaches them how to capture their prey so that they'll be able to do it on their own as adults. Domesticated cats that aren't parents substitute their human owners for offspring. That's why Sheba here - " he stroked the back of the purring feline that had leapt up onto the seat beside him - "gets all confused whenever she brings a fresh catch to Madoka and Madoka makes me dispose of it outside."

Ginji frowned. "You mean Akabane-san thinks I'm a kitty-cat?"

A burst of laughter from behind them preempted whatever Shido had intended to say. Ban shook his head. "No, idiot. What Bubbles the chimperor here is trying – and failing – to explain is," he said, ignoring the dirty look of death that Shido shot him, "that Akabane has a crush on you and this is his way of showing it by bringing you these 'presents.'"

Awkward silence landed on the gathering group like a rotten piece of fruit. Ginji wrinkled his nose. "But does he really have to kill so many just to get my attention? Couldn't he just say it with flowers instead?"

"He could," Kazuki piped up from across the aisle. "But then again, certain flowers carry specific meanings. Carnations are very popular at funerals, I'm told..."

Ginji's eyes bulged. "You guys have to help me. We have to make him stop!"

"'We,' o fearless eel?" Ban questioned. "Who's this 'we' you're talking about?"

"But Ban-chan! You'd help me, right? 'Cause we're partners! You know, the 's' means we're never alone...!"

"Partnership doesn't extend to playing dress-up as a pincushion for Jackal's target practice," Ban declared flatly.

Ginji turned to the others. "I can count on you guys, can't I? You're my friends and we always help each other out...right? Right?"

Both Shido and Kazuki looked away, clearly discomfited. "Well...ordinarily we would, you know that," Shido mumbled.

Kazuki fiddled with the bells in his hair. "It's just that - "

" - we kinda have this thing - "

" - It's nothing personal, Ginji-san, but - "

" - See, Madoka's pretty picky about the white carpeting in the hall - "

" - and Juubei's the only one allowed to practice medicine on me - "

"The thing is, Ginji - " Shido and Kazuki looked at each other. "We don't want to end up dead," they finished in unison.

"Speaking of which, guess who the cat just dragged in," Ban cackled quietly as a large, black shadow bearing a shrouded form suspiciously in the shape of a human being swept into the diner.

"Hello, Ginji-kun! I have another surprise delivery for you!"

"Not on the counter," Paul said. "Health department regulations."

Ginji looked up at the ceiling and groaned. "Why me?"

--

And, because one's never enough with gift-giving...!

Title: Color Me Dead

Author: Amethyst Hunter

Fandom/pairing: Get Backers, Akabane/Ginji

Rating: PG

Warnings/Spoilers: See above.

Word count: 350

Notes: Based on a fic prompt for the springkink LJ community. Prompt: "unusual gifts and/or courtship - surprise!"

Disclaimer: I don't own GB.

Summary: Akabane knows how to make the best of any situation!

--

Heads always turned whenever Kuroudo Akabane walked into the Honky Tonk; however, on this inauspicious day they just about snapped completely off of their spines. Akabane calmly ignored the shocked stares and stepped neatly over the dropped jaws as he joined his cohorts Himiko and Maguruma in a corner booth.

Maguruma choked on his coffee, looked like he was about to say something, then thought better of it and pretended he hadn't seen. Some things were just better left unnoticed. Himiko was not as restrained, and hit Akabane with a loud hiss. "WHAT happened to YOU?!"

Akabane basked in the attention, smoothing a hand down the front of his brand-new pink trenchcoat before adjusting the brim of his matching pink hat. "It is my birthday present from Ginji-kun," he said proudly.

Himiko didn't know whether to laugh, cry, or throw up. She got up and went to the counter where a decidedly smug-looking retriever was gloating over his slice of pizza. "Care to explain to me why my transport partner looks like a giant stick of bubblegum?" she demanded.

Ginji giggled quietly. "I got the idea from one of Ban-chan's books. Apparently some shades of pink have the power to calm people's minds. So I thought that if I made Akabane-san have to look at pink all day, he won't want to kill anybody! Am I a genius or what?"

Now Himiko wanted to laugh, cry, and be sick. "You," she said to Ginji, "are the world's most unbelievable, incredible...IDIOT! We have a big job today and there's going to be guards galore, and you think any one of them is going to have the sense NOT to pick a fight with Jackal over that getup?!"

Ginji froze in the act of swallowing a hunk of cheese. His face fell like the piece of crust he held in his hand.

"I cannot wait until Midou-kun arrives. Surely he will be full of _interesting_ comments today," Akabane hummed with a feline smile as he laced both pink-gloved hands together and cracked his knuckles.

--


End file.
